Weather preparation update

Hampshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Officer has sent this update on rain expected for this afternoon and evening:

“I would like to reassure you all that multi agency partners in Hampshire have put preparations in place for the “forecast” weather which includes strong winds and extreme rainfall. However, the Met Office are expecting a “low/moderate impact” so please keep this in perspective!

We expect to see the impact of this weather commencing around 15:00 this afternoon with the worst of the rainfall expected between 03:00 – 04:00am tomorrow morning as the cold front passes through with strong winds anytime 3-4 hours beforehand.

We could see between 15-25mm of rainfall (some areas locally may get up to 35mm). This may cause surface water flooding on the highways and we could see disruption to the transport network. Strong winds may bring trees down and affect power lines.

We know that ground water levels are high in some areas at the moment and this rainfall may be the touch paper that starts cellar flooding in some areas.

During a partnership teleconference this morning, all local authorities and emergency services confirmed that they are prepared to respond to any local impacts but noted that this is “business as usual”. Highways and Tree Teams are on standby.